Ask the Author: Rick Mendes
Answered Questions (2)
Rick Mendes
I love the creativity of it. Lot's of people think authors just sit down and write a novel and get it published.
I start with research and character development. I research things I don't know enough about. I spend months working on character development. I find writing short stories with characters I am thinking about let's me find voices for those characters.
I call the short stories practice. It let's me keep writing fiction between books and I learn a lot about my possible characters.
The last thing I do before I write the first manuscript is build a list of scenes with a description and the list of scene beats I want to use in the scene.
Almost every one of those things requires creativity. Characters, short stories, scenes, and beats. The more I work with these things gets my creativity flowing.
That flow helps me write the first manuscript, which involves a lot of creativity.
I start with research and character development. I research things I don't know enough about. I spend months working on character development. I find writing short stories with characters I am thinking about let's me find voices for those characters.
I call the short stories practice. It let's me keep writing fiction between books and I learn a lot about my possible characters.
The last thing I do before I write the first manuscript is build a list of scenes with a description and the list of scene beats I want to use in the scene.
Almost every one of those things requires creativity. Characters, short stories, scenes, and beats. The more I work with these things gets my creativity flowing.
That flow helps me write the first manuscript, which involves a lot of creativity.
Rick Mendes
I am working on my first crime thriller. Developed most of my characters already. Next up is a scene list with scene beats. I was a pantser for my first novel. Becoming more of a plotter for my next one.
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